I had another day off (traded Thanksgiving for it), so on Saturday, November 22 I went to meet the NYC Urban Sketchers downtown at the newly opened Fulton Transit Center. All the transit types had been raving about this place. Multiple subway lines converge, eventually all the businesses that plan to be here will be and it is probably a madhouse during the week, but on this Saturday it was a really sleepy laid back hub.

First, though, I spent some quality time in Penn Station.

When I finally arrived at the Fulton Center, after more Saturday subway construction musical chairs, I found the sketchers scattered all around the large station. They were easy to spot. Most of the people downtown at that hour were cops, security guards and NYC Urban Sketchers. I rested iPat on a ledge and looked up and down trying to figure out how to draw the architecture and was soon defeated. Thank goodness for the cops discussing cop business down below and the ever present family of tourists.

Lunch was at a sandwich shop a few blocks away. Surprise! The restaurant had just opened, was empty, only two employees and 12 or 15 of us started rearranging the tables.

Afterwards, back at the Transit Center, I headed underground with Jeff and Joan. You see, earlier Jeff had painted a homeless person asleep on a bench (he showed it to us at lunch) and I was jealous. We set up on the R train platform and on the opposite platform were a constant supply of people sitting still while they waited.

Jeff set up his little stool almost at the yellow painted edge of the platform that supposedly keeps you safe if you keep off. I moved to the bench behind him and happily sketched. When a train would stop the open conductor’s window was just in front of him. It was fun to see their reaction when they were confronted with a man sitting on his tiny stool with his watercolors and paper.

Frozen, the three of us went back upstairs to join with the others and have some show and tell.

This is Jeff (and Mark, over there) on the J train. On my side are Joan and Amy. We are going somewhere else. (Hmm. Is he sketching all of us.)

Stay tuned, I also made another small iPat book that morning and after dark we became un-urbanized.

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This entire post just made me smile. I had to laugh that you were jealous that Jeff painted a homeless man on the platform in the morning…lol I felt the same way! Great day of sketching, Pat! I can’t wait to see all your sketches from the un-urban part of the day.